Miami Unveils Country's First Smart Stadium

Imagine a future in which your local stadium sends you personalized alerts about which parking lots have ample capacity, where to enter the stadium and skip the lines, or provide updates on inclement weather. Well the future is here, reports Laird.

It makes sense that technology originally developed by IBM for its "Smarter Cities" initiative, and run through its cloud-based Intelligent Operations Center, would find useful application at a large stadium. "With 75,00 seats, 24,000 parking spots, 1.5 million square feet of space and the world's largest point-of-sale vending system under one roof, Sun Life Stadium functions almost as its own little city when the Dolphins play or a famous performer comes to town," writes Laird.

According to project officials, the partnership between IBM and the Dolphins will make Sun Life Stadium, "the most advanced venue of its kind in North America. The "Stadium of the Future" is set to have its first trial run during this evening's international soccer friendly between Mexico and Colombia.